The Battle of the Heart
by skittletree93
Summary: "He pressed me up against the driver's side door, his knee settling between my legs, his hands resting lightly on my hips.  His lips whispered against mine and I almost fainted.  'You will come with me to Atlantic City.'"
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! Thanks so much for choosing to read this story. I am pretty excited about it and have been trying to write a few chapters in advance so as to keep up with updates, but I must confess that I have not been the most diligent updater in the past. I am a senior in high school, after all, and I have homework and college preparation and work to contend with. However, reviews might encourage me to find the time to put some extra work into this story. If that matters to anyone. Just sayin'. (;

The title of this story was inspired by the song Soldier by Ingrid Michaelson.

Disclaimer: I'm sure it goes without saying, but I do not actually own Stephanie Plum. Or Rex or the Buick or Ranger (sadly enough) or anything else for that matter.

...

If there is one thing I hate in this world, it's a drunk old man intent on shooting me. That, along with rolls of fat around my middle, dead bodies, hangovers, and especially people breaking into my apartment (I mean really, that's just rude). Lucky as I am, I actually have to deal with almost all of the above on a fairly regular basis. I just love my life sometimes.

My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bond enforcement agent. I work for my cousin Vinnie, picking up FTAs (failure to appear) and dragging their sorry asses back to court. It's a great job, excepting all of the drunk old men intent on shooting me. Okay, so it has its pros and its cons, but it's a way to earn a living, right?

That's what I was telling myself, anyway, as I ran screaming with Lula from Brandon Helfert's house at eleven in the morning. By the time we got back to her Firebird, my throat was sore, my lungs were burning, and my heart was attempting to beat right out of my chest. Lula was panting and gesturing wildly with her arms, clearly winded and unable to find her voice. Her hair—jet black this week—was sticking straight out behind her from our mad dash to the car; I doubted I looked a whole lot better. On the bright side, I didn't roll around in either garbage or food this time. That's me, ever the optimist.

Hah. Yeah, right.

"Holy shit," gasped Lula, finally regaining her ability to speak. "Did that really just happen? Did you see that? That ugly motherfucker just tried to shoot at us. Goddamn."

"I hate when this happens," I groaned, leaning my head back against the passenger seat and closing my eyes. "Why can't we ever pick up an FTA without getting shot at? Why?"

"That does it. I'm done. I am sick and tired of them punk ass motherfuckers thinking they can scare me off just by wavin' a gun in my face. No more. No sir. I'm gonna march up there and show that sonuvabitch that Lula's boss."

I stared at her silently, waiting for what would inevitably come next…

"And I would go set him straight now, but I just realized that I'm pretty hungry right this second. In fact, I think need a Big Mac. That and a large fry and a large Coke and two of them apple pies. Maybe I should deal with him later. After all, it'll be hard work showing people whose boss on an empty stomach. I'm gonna need my strength." She put the key in the ignition, started the car, and headed for the nearest McDonald's.

Thank God for fast food.

Twenty minutes later, we were parked on the street and walking into the bonds office, two bags of food and three giant sodas in our hands.

"Hey, Connie," I greeted the office manager, passing some food and a drink her way. She took everything gratefully and immediately dug in. Connie had just opened her mouth to speak to me when the door to Vinnie's office cracked open and Vinnie's head peeked out.

"So did you two idiots get Brandon Helfert, or what? 'Cause it doesn't sound to me like you did. And I'm gonna be really upset if in two weeks from now I'm out of my money because you dummies still haven't gotten a simple domestic abuser rebonded."

"He shot at us!" I trilled, hands on hips in indignation. You'd think I'd be used to people shooting at me by now, but I still got huffy over it. I mean, I was only doing my job. It's not like I was going to _hurt_ them. I certainly didn't deserve to be shot at. Yeesh.

"Whatever. You had just better deal with him soon." He glared around at all of us for a moment before retreating into his office, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I sure don't wanna know what he does in that office," said Lula, shuddering.

"Me neither," I agreed, my top lip curling back in disgust.

Connie nodded fervently, pressing her lips tightly together. Probably fighting the urge to throw up. Can't say I blame her.

"Got any more FTAs for me?" I asked her after taking a large gulp of soda. "I'm obviously not having much luck with Helfert right now. I may as well focus on somebody else."

"Well…" began Connie, but she trailed off almost immediately, her eyes moving from my face to a point just behind me. Judging by the tingle that danced down my spine and the wave of heat that stole through my body, it was Ranger. A warm hand settled at my waist and my suspicions were confirmed.

"Babe," he said, a smile in his voice.

"Yo," I replied, twisting my head to the side so that I could look at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

I rolled my eyes. Honestly, what kind of an answer was that. "Alright. So why were you looking for me?"

"I've got a job for you."

That caught me off guard. For the past several weeks, Ranger had been very distant with me, hardly ever calling to check up on me, rarely running into me at the office or anywhere else, and only visiting me in the middle of the night once. And he hadn't asked for my help for even longer than that. If I didn't know better, I would almost say Ranger was avoiding me. And sadly enough, I didn't know better.

"Earth to Babe."

"Sorry, this is just a little…unexpected," I answered, my brow furrowing.

"Let me take you to lunch and I'll explain," he offered, his hand moving from my waist to splay against my stomach. My knees wobbled at his touch, but I managed to stay upright. Score for Stephanie.

"Okay," I agreed meekly, allowing Ranger to throw his arm around my shoulders and steer me out the door. I caught a glimpse of Connie and Lula fanning themselves and diving for their cool sodas out of the corner of my eye. I would roll my eyes at their seemingly dramatic behavior, but I actually kind of felt like doing the same. Ranger was _that hot. _"So what's the deal?" I prodded the second I had strapped myself into his super powerful, super expensive, super awesome car. The Porsche. Yum.

"I need your help with a distraction," he stated in his calm, controlled voice.

As if I couldn't have figured that out all by myself. I fought the urge to sigh in frustration. What, was I supposed to guess the exact nature of the job he wanted me to do? Did he want to play twenty questions? Did he think I was psychic and could magically just _know_ what the deal was?

I waited for him to elaborate, but he remained silent, staring out the windshield, seemingly in his zone. Though I had started out as a little miffed, as the silence between us lengthened, I grew worried. He had been acting so strangely lately and he was talking to me even less than usual now, which was saying something. Usually, he'd at least ask how I was or _something, _but so far, he had hardly said a word. I wondered if he was mad at me. Maybe I had done something to offend him and I just didn't realize it. But he had his right hand resting lightly on my thigh. Surely he wouldn't be touching me like that if he were angry…

"You're thinking awfully hard over there," Ranger observed, finally breaking the silence.

"Just wondering what the plan is," I said quietly, unwilling to share my thoughts. Maybe I would ask him what was going on with him later, but I had to work up the courage first. No way was I brave enough to bring it up now.

"I'll tell you when we get there." He squeezed my knee and left it at that.

Impatience was gnawing at me and I was starting to get antsy when the car finally stopped in front of a building. Shorty's. I immediately relaxed and flashed Ranger a bright and grateful smile, scrambling out of the car and following my nose to the door.

"You're going to want to wait for me, babe," said Ranger behind me, the echo of a chuckle in his voice. I slowed down until he caught up with me.

"Sorry, I kind of left my McDonald's back at the office with Connie and Lula so I'm starving," I explained with an apologetic grin.

"I'm sure Lula will take care of it for you." The corners of his mouth twitched.

"By the time we got there, she had already eaten my Big Mac," I sighed, shaking my head ruefully. "I was planning on stealing her pies to get back at her, but I guess she'll get to keep those for herself now too."

"Babe." That's all he said, but I could tell he was laughing at me.

"It's not funny," I insisted, crossing my arms huffily.

"Cute," he said, tugging on a lock of my hair before snaking his arm around my waist.

"Hunh."

We were seated at the bar and instantly provided with glasses of water along with a Coke for me. I was content basking in the smell of cooking tomato sauce and the sound of talking patrons for a while, but any patience that I had remaining quickly evaporated after the pizza arrived. I managed to resist questioning Ranger through the first slice, but after that, my curiosity got the better of me.

"So?" I said, looking up at him expectantly.

He looked at me steadily, face betraying no emotion, no hint as to what was going on in that mysterious head of his. Finally, he answered in a low, authoritative voice. "Pack your bags. Tomorrow morning, you and I are off to Atlantic City to bring in a high bond FTA."


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! First of all, I would like to thank all of you who reviewed, favorited or alert-ed so far. Your responses definitely helped encourage me in writing this next chapter. Sadly, it is quite a bit shorter than the last, but my expectation is that the next update will be significantly longer. Hopefully, that will make up for it! Thanks for reading (:

...

_He looked at me steadily, face betraying no emotion, no hint as to what was going on in that mysterious head of his. Finally, he answered in a low, authoritative voice. "Pack your bags. Tomorrow morning, you and I are off to Atlantic City to bring in a high bond FTA."_

"Excuse me?"

Ranger didn't answer, but continued watching me, taking a slow sip of his water.

"Look, you don't just get to tell me what to do. I make my own decisions about my life and I am pretty sure that I did _not_ decide to go to Atlantic City tomorrow." I folded my arms and lifted my chin. Defiant.

Ranger's lips were twitching again. "Would you like to go to Atlantic City with me tomorrow?"

"Well, sure."

"Babe."

"All you had to do was ask."

He gave me a look that told me quite clearly that if he were a mortal man, I would be giving him a headache. I waited until he turned his head in search of the bartender and then stuck my tongue out at him.

"I saw that." The ghost of a smirk played around his mouth.

"Good," I said, sticking my tongue out at him again.

"You better be careful," he warned me in a deep voice, watching as my tongue darted back into my mouth. "You should keep your tongue in your mouth if you want it to stay there."

"What, you're gonna cut my tongue out?" I asked facetiously, even as my stomach flip-flopped. Ranger was the kind of person who could probably cut someone's tongue out effortlessly.

"No," he replied slowly, his eyes darkening. Placing one hand on my hip, he leaned forward and kissed me, sweeping his tongue across my lower lip. I moaned at the sensation and he took the opportunity to suck my tongue into his mouth. I almost had an orgasm right then and there. He nipped slightly at my tongue before breaking away and returning to his pizza, leaving me sitting there in a daze. It didn't help that his hand lingered on my hip.

"Um…s-so tell me about the FTA," I stuttered after spending a few minutes trying and failing to properly collect myself.

"Stephen Macri. Bonded out for a million. He missed his court date last week and we need to bring him in by the end of this week."

"What was he charged with?" I inquired apprehensively; it was an awfully high bond so he must have done something bad.

"He's a serial rapist, babe."

I giggled nervously. "Oh, wow, you know what? I just remembered. I am really busy this weekend. So busy that I don't even think that I'll be able to make it to Atlantic City with you. Bummer. Maybe I'll be able to ride along for the next serial rapist pick up."

It looked like Ranger might be torn between amusement and exasperation at my response, but since all I had to work with was a slight turn up at the corner of his lips and the cock of one of his eyebrows, it was difficult to be sure.

"Really?" he said, barely feigning interest. "What has you so busy?"

"Hunh. Well, I really need to clean Rex's cage. And I should probably redecorate my bathroom. That brown and orange is really not doing it for me. And I want to go shopping with Lula since we haven't really had a lot of girl time lately. Plus, you know what, it's been a whole month since I've watched Ghostbusters. I really oughtta fix that problem, too."

"Hmm." We were both done eating, so he laid some money down on the bar, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me out the door. He didn't release me when we got to his car; instead, he pressed me up against the driver's side door, his knee settling between my legs, his hands resting lightly on my hips. His lips whispered against mine and I almost fainted. "You will come with me to Atlantic City."

I shook my head no, but my hands were clutching his shirt, drawing him closer to me. He kissed me again, harder this time, gently biting my bottom lip. Somebody whimpered. I think it was me.

"Please?" he whispered against my mouth, his right hand creeping under the hem of my shirt and pressing warmly against my belly. I kind of wanted to say no just so that he would kiss me again, but my head was already nodding of its own accord.

Damn.

He rewarded me with a genuine smile and, as if he could read my thoughts (which he probably could), leaned down to me again. This time, the kiss was almost desperate. Both of his palms were pressed against the small of my back so that I was flush up against his body. My hands were in his hair and his tongue was in my mouth and I was about three and a half seconds away from spontaneously combusting.

After a minute, he broke away, his smile gone, replaced by an intensity that truthfully kind of frightened me a little bit. I was still recovering from the kiss, panting heavily, trying to catch my breath, and he was standing perfectly composed in front of me, clearly trying to fight some kind of demons, but I wasn't sure what.

"Take the Porsche," he finally said, tossing me the keys. I caught them with a feeling of both relief and trepidation. Relief, because I had destroyed what seemed like the millionth car the other day and was reduced to riding around in the Buick, my uncle Sandor's old behemoth of a car, an uninviting prospect; trepidation, because I was reluctant to also destroy this car and it was inevitable that I would. I just had bad car karma. Simple as that. "Tank is here to pick me up. I'll call you later with the details for tomorrow." He gazed at me, a shadow settled over his eyes, but after a moment, his expression softened and he pulled me close again. "Be careful," he said softly, placing a last, lingering kiss on my lips before turning around and walking away.

"Thanks," I whispered, but he was already gone.

...

Tell me what you thinkk!


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my gosh, I am so, so sorry for how long it has taken me to update. I had fully intended to write and post this next chapter within a week at the most, but my computer ended up breaking and I didn't have the opportunity to continue working on this story until it could be fixed. Thank you so much for your patience. I hope this chapter is worth the wait!

Also, thank you to all of you who read, reviewed, favorited, or alerted. I really appreciate it (:

Disclaimer: Yep, still not mine.

...

By the time I got back to the bonds office, it was two o'clock and I was exhausted. The idea of chasing after more skips was definitely not appealing, so I dragged my feet as I walked through the door, silently hoping that Connie wouldn't have any more for me.

"You better get your skinny ass over here and tell us what happened," commanded Lula the second she saw me. "And don't take your time about it either. I want details. Hot, juicy Ranger details."

Connie crossed her arms and nodded her concurrence.

Oh boy.

"Nothing happened…" I began, but I was immediately interrupted by two loud snorts.

"Puh-lease," exploded Connie, her eyes rolling around in her head.

"Do I look stupid to you, white girl?" boomed Lula, pointing at herself. "'Cause I am sure as hell not stupid. And I expect a cool ass story out of you." And with that, she plopped her heavily spandex-ed butt onto the sofa, crossed her arms and her legs, and glared at me, obviously expecting me to give her a sexy story.

Too bad I didn't really have anything to divulge.

I mean, there were those kisses me and Ranger shared, but seriously, I was not about to tell Lula and Connie about them. Considering I was currently in the on-again stage of an on-again, off-again relationship with Joe Morelli, the man who had been both exciting and complicating my life since I was six years old, I didn't figure I should spill the beans about my extracurricular activities with Ranger. It's not like I was having sex with him or anything, but probably I shouldn't be kissing Ranger while I was in a relationship with Joe. Hunh.

"Are you gonna—" Lula began furiously, but none of us heard the end of her sentence. We were all too busy cringing at the sight of my arch-nemesis Joyce Barnhardt strutting towards the door to the bonds office, her teased red hair rippling with the force of each step, her heavily made up eyes narrowed in either anger or dislike. Probably both. It was hard to tell.

"Uh oh," said Lula, wrinkling her nose. "There goes that sulfur smell again."

Before either of us could reply, the door swung open and Joyce sauntered in. "Look who it is," she drawled, flipping her hair dramatically. "Dumb, dumber, and dumbest."

"Fuck off, Joyce," I retorted, not in the mood to deal with her bullshit.

"Bitch," she hissed, glaring at me.

"Whore."

"Slut."

"Skank."

"Cunt."

"What the fuck do you want?" I growled, officially pissed off. That word always pissed me off.

"Where's Vinnie?" she snapped, slitting her eyes at all of us and making towards his office door. "Oh, Vinnie," she cooed and I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth. The door opened halfway, Joyce squeezed through the gap, and then it banged shut again, the lock clicking fast.

"Oh, God," I mouthed, horrified at the grudging mental image of what was probably going on behind the closed door that popped into my head against my will.

"Not animal sounds again?" asked Connie, a look of utmost revulsion on her face.

"I don't know, but I'd rather not find out," I said quickly, turning to Lula and grabbing my bag. "I was going to go shopping and wondered if you wanted to come along. You're welcome to come too," I added, my eyes flicking toward Connie who was still frozen in an attitude of disgust.

"Yes," shouted Connie and Lula in unison, snatching up their things and practically running for the door. "I don't want to bear witness to Joyce and Vinnie's 'meeting,'" explained Connie as she booked it out the door.

"Me neither," nodded Lula, moving as quickly as her giant heels would allow.

"Agreed," I muttered, stepping out of the office just as a loud squeal echoed from Vinnie's office.

Gross.

...

We made it to the mall in record time. Good thing too, 'cause Lula and Connie were about to drive me nutty with all of their questions about Ranger.

"Well, you didn't have no sex," mused Lula, stroking her chin thoughtfully as we got out of the car. "I'd be able to tell that."

"Bummer," sighed Connie. I sighed too. It kind of was a bummer. "So what are we shopping for?"

"A dress. And some shoes to match."

"What's the occasion?"

"I'm sort of helping Ranger with a job this weekend…"

"Girl, you've been holdin' out on us!" yelled Lula, causing about twenty five different people to turn and stare in our direction.

"It's not a big deal," I insisted, hitching my bag up higher on my shoulder. "It's just for a couple days."

"What's Joe got to say about that?" questioned Connie, quirking an eyebrow up at me.

"I guess we'll find out when I tell him," I said with a crooked smile. Then we burst into laughter because we all knew what he was going to say. A big, fat N O. Joe's not Ranger's biggest fan, you see.

"What about this?" asked Lula, coming to a halt in front of a small store full of skimpy dresses and designer jeans.

"I could never afford any of that," I objected, even as Lula and Connie each took one of my arms and dragged me inside.

"Don't worry about none of that," instructed Lula, making a beeline for a midnight blue dress hanging in the very back of the store. "This here dress is perfect for you. Perfect."

I glanced at the price tag. Ouch. Maybe if I gave up Boston crèmes and sold my car…wait I don't have a car. Fuck.

"I seriously don't have the money for this," I repeated, trying desperately to wrench my arms from their grip; if I didn't get away from the dress right away, I would do something stupid. Like buy it.

"You had better get your skinny little ass into this dress right now!" commanded Lula, releasing my arm to put her hands on her hips.

"Fine, fine," I grumbled, pulling the dress down and making my way toward the dressing rooms. I sort of hoped that I would put it on and it would be atrocious. A situation where it looked good on the hanger, but not actually on me.

It wasn't that kind of situation. The dress was beautiful. The material was soft and shimmery and could probably rip with the smallest amount of pressure, but clung to my body like a second skin and did wonderful things for my shape. It had thin straps at the top and showed just the right amount of cleavage. The hem of the dress hit me mid-thigh.

Perfect.

And the best part was that I wouldn't even need to buy shoes because I owned a pair of silvery FMPs that would match fabulously with the dress. So that could probably counter the cost of the dress... I glanced at the price tag again. Nope. In no way was I ever going to be able to afford this dress.

I opened the door to show Lula and Connie

"I love it, but there is absolutely no way I could pay for it," I sighed to Lula, looking longingly at my reflection in the dressing room mirror. I shimmied out of the light material and hung the dress back up on the hanger. "Here, could you put this away for me please?" I had just closed the door to the dressing room to put my jeans, T-shirt, and sandals back on when I heard the quiet but distinct sound of fabric ripping along with a sharp intake of breath.

"Aw, hell. Don't look now, but there's a rip in this dress. Probably we should get a discount 'cause of this here rip in this dress."

I slammed open the dressing room door, my jeans on, but unbuttoned and unzipped, my shirt in a tangle around my neck.

"What did you do?" I demanded in a strangled voice, staring wide-eyed at the fabric in Lula's hands. I couldn't detect any serious damage with my cursory examination, but that didn't stop me from experiencing a full-out panic attack.

"You need to calm down," instructed Lula, pushing me back into my dressing room. "And put some clothes on. You think we wanna see that?"

I smiled bitchily at her, gave her one of my best Italian hand gestures, and finished getting my clothes on.

"Where's the dress?" I hissed, glaring at Lula as I emerged.

"Connie's got it. She's talkin' to the people to see if we can't get a discount."

"This is like stealing," I whispered back to her furiously, but she just shrugged and gave me her big innocent Lula look. Geez.

...

Twenty minutes later, we returned to the car with our purchases. I had bought the dress for a considerably reduced price—which I was secretly glad about, though I would never admit it to Lula—and Lula and Connie had each gotten a pair of five inch heels that made my feet hurt just by looking at them.

I dropped the pair back off at the bonds office and headed for home, my stomach rumbling with surprising persistence. Dreaming starry-eyed about a Pino's sub and beer, I parked my lovely new Porsche near the dumpsters, trudged to my apartment, and unlocked the door warily. Unfortunately, I usually found it necessary to enter my own apartment with caution due to all of the lunatics constantly trying to attack me. I probably would have gone through each room to ensure that there were no crazies waiting to bludgeon me to death in the closet or behind the shower curtain, but my feet automatically steered me towards the refrigerator, my nose twitching frantically.

Unsurprisingly, the food fairies had yet again neglected to restock my fridge with delicious treats, so when I peered inside, I found only a mostly empty gallon of milk and a slimy, barely edible bag of baby carrots. Shrugging my shoulders half-heartedly, I chugged down the rest of the milk, wiped my mouth, and turned to the carrots, debating whether or not I was hungry enough to eat them... Nope. There was absolutely no way that I was going to force those things down my throat. Shuddering slightly, I snatched up the unpalatable vegetables along with the emptied milk carton and almost went to throw them away. But then I happened to glance back and notice how sad my vacant refrigerator looked without them and promptly replaced the items on the first and second shelf respectively.

Nodding in satisfaction, I sashayed over to my pantry to take a quick peek. I could practically envision the tumbleweeds cartwheeling across the shelves, that's how bare they were. With an outward sigh of annoyance, but a mental titter of excitement, I headed toward the phone to order some takeout. (I figured I could afford it considering how much money Connie and Lula saved me from the dress I bought).

I was only able to take three and a half steps before a gruff voice floated towards me, curling around my neck and stretching down my back, sending a chill down my spine.

"Steph."

With a surprised gasp, I whirled around mid-step, stumbled over my right foot and crashed heavily to the floor, landing almost directly in front of the owner of the voice. He smirked down at me with dark amusement, shaking his head in exasperation at the ridiculous image I posed, sprawled across my own kitchen floor.

_Damn,_ I thought to myself, closing my eyes tiredly and biting my lip in agitation and anxiety. _I knew I should have checked my apartment for intruders._

_..._

If you have the time, please leave a review. I would love to hear what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Oh man, I am so sorry that it is taking me forever and ever to update this story. I promise that I have nothing but good intentions. My life is just ridiculously busy right now and I don't have nearly enough time to work on my writing (probably, I should have waited to post until I had written the whole entire story...too late now, I suppose). I will try my best to get another chapter up sometime this week, but after that I won't be able to update for a week or two because it is Performance Week for my school musical and I am going to be at school/rehearsal literally alllll day, every day. Fortunately, after that, I should have loads more time to write. Thanks so much for your patience, guys!

For those of you who have been reviewing, alerting, favorite-ing, and/or reading this story, thank you, also! You wouldn't be able to tell based on my unfortunate lack of regular updates, but you really do wonders for my inspiration. Also, I know that I am really behind in responding to reviews, but I will make sure to get to work on that as soon as possible. Thanks again!

PS. This chapter is dedicated to margaret fowler. Or at least, the second part of the chapter is. She's the one who inspired the idea for a Ranger POV. Thanks girl!

Disclaimer: Need I even say it?

...

"Whoa there, Cupcake," chuckled my unexpected visitor, holding out a hand to help me back up to my feet. "Don't be so excited to see me."

"Damn it, Joe!" I shrieked, scowling heavily, ignoring his proffered hand, and standing up under my own steam. "Why don't you people ever knock? I don't understand why a girl can't get any privacy even in the comfort of her own home!"

Joe laughed, clearly unfazed by my outburst. "I haven't even seen you for a couple of days. I figured you would like the surprise."

"Since when do I like surprises?" I muttered, turning away and cursing silently to myself. Now that he was here, I was definitely going to have to inform him of my impending trip to Atlantic City with Ranger. I had been planning on simply calling him from the car when we were already halfway through the drive so as to minimize (or at least delay) his inevitable anger, but if I failed to tell him now, it would be too much like lying.

"Everyone likes surprises," he grinned, folding his arms comfortably and leaning his hip against the counter.

"Hmph."

"So what's with the sexy new dress?" He asked, eyeing the shopping bag that was lying on my counter.

"How do you know there's a sexy new dress in there?" I countered, narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously.

He shrugged. "I was curious about it so I peeked inside already."

"Hunh. Well, it's funny you should ask…"

"Stephanie…" growled Morelli in his I-know-you're-going-to-tell-me-something-I-won't-like-and-I'm-already-unhappy-about-it voice.

"I got it so that I could help Ranger pick up a skip in Atlantic City tomorrow." There. I said it. Everything was all out in the open now. That had to count for something, right? My pure, selfless determination to tell the truth no matter what the consequences—

"You want to run that by me again?" asked Joe in his most deadly calm voice.

"Um. No," I answered truthfully. I mean, telling him the first time was unfortunate enough.

"I am not letting you go anywhere _near_ Ranger if you're wearing that dress."

"I don't really think that's your decision," I snapped, hackles rising at the idea of Morelli telling me what to do.

"You're my girlfriend. Of course it's my decision."

"Oh, get over yourself. I'm not going to refuse to do a part of my job just because you're uncomfortable with it." I glowered at him, daring him to continue the argument. It was one we had had about a million times, after all.

"Seriously, Cupcake. Don't go."

"I have to go, Joe."

"Damn it, Stephanie!" He pounded his fists on the countertop, livid. "If you go, I'll—I'll—" Unable to stand still due to the rage and adrenaline clearly coursing through his veins, he began pacing the kitchen, hands still clenched. I stared at him, waiting to hear his idea of a fitting punishment for my doing my own goddamn job.

Abruptly, he came to a halt only a few feet away from me. He gazed at me with an uncomfortable intensity, a painful concentration that shook me, hard. I could tell that he was having serious thoughts. And that maybe whatever threat he came up with wouldn't be as ridiculous as I had originally believed. In fact, maybe it would break my heart. And judging by the resolve in his eyes, maybe he wouldn't hesitate to follow through.

"I've never really asked you to make a choice, Steph. I've never presented you with an ultimatum with the intention of sticking to my word. But I'm completely serious right now. I can't tolerate your relationship with Ranger anymore. Not now that it's amounted to you and him sneaking off on vacation somewhere."

"It's not vacation, it's _work_," I tried to interject, but he ignored me and I felt my heart sink.

"It's Atlantic City. And I don't trust him. But that's not even the real problem. The real problem is that I don't trust _you._ The fact that I don't think it would not surprise me at all if you slept with him—"

"Are you kidding me?" I shrieked, my hands flying to my hips in my indignation and disgust. "That's what you think of me? I would _never_ cheat on you like that. _Never._ I can't even believe that you would think me capable of that."

"I've seen the way you two look at each other…"

"There's a big fucking difference between _looks_ and _sex_. God, I don't even know what to say to you right now."

A pleading softness crept into his expression, belying the temper he had been displaying just moments before. "Say something that will make me believe you," he said quietly, moving slightly closer. "Show me that I can trust you. Prove to me that I'm wrong and that you don't feel anything for him and that you love me."

"Okay," I whispered, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. "But I'm still going to Atlantic City tomorrow."

His eyes hardened for a split second and then drained completely of emotion. Nodding mechanically, he swung around and headed for my apartment door. He looked the epitome of control, but as he left, he slammed the door so hard that it bounced back open.

Not bothering to walk over and close it again, I trudged over to the couch and buried my face in a pillow, willing myself not to cry.

"Guess I made my decision," I muttered, sniffling. "This sucks."

When my dinner arrived three minutes later, the delivery guy was greeted with the sight of my dripping face, cheeks wet, nose leaking, and make up severely smeared due to my uncontrollable crying. Not even waiting for me to hand over the money, he dropped my food in shock and took off running down the hall, clearly directed towards the stairs. Guess I looked kind of scary. At least I got free food. Sighing, I picked up the bag of takeout and brought it into my apartment. I stared at it for a good two minutes before deciding that I wasn't hungry anymore, shoving it into the refrigerator, and shuffling to my bed. The only way to escape the emotional turmoil I was experiencing was to go to sleep and hopefully dream of a world where my life didn't have to be so complicated.

...

Ranger sat in the chair near to Stephanie's bed and watched her intently as she slept. Her hair was a tangled mess around her head and over her eyes and it appeared that she hadn't bothered to shower before going to bed because she had mascara down to her chin. Yet…there was something endearing about the way her body snuggled under the covers, her legs curled up to her chest with one arm stretched out across the bed and the other clutched tightly to her chest. Endearing…

He shook his head and slouched lower in the chair, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. Stephanie Plum's sexy, witty, amusing, _endearing_ qualities had been occupying his mind quite often lately and it was beginning to seriously distract him. In fact, it was making him dangerously close to losing focus on the more important aspects of his life, the ones he'd committed to putting first no matter the circumstances. In an effort to banish these thoughts of her from his head, he tried distancing himself from the source of the problem, but that had done nothing except exacerbate the situation. When he was far from her, he couldn't help but wonder about her. Ponder her large blue eyes, generally sparkling with some sort of mischief or excitement. Contemplate her laughing, lyrical voice and the different nuances it took on when she was feeling angry, content, disappointed, uncomfortable, _satisfied_. She had an addictive personality and it was so hard to stay away from her when all he wanted was to just _have_ her, all for himself.

Whenever this thought struck him, he invariably determined to avoid her even more, secretly fearing the consequences of his growing attachment to her. After all, he was Ranger. He wasn't attached to anyone, anything, or anyplace. Attachments were dangerous.

Yet here he was, sitting in her bedroom watching her sleep. Sighing silently, he shook his head to clear it of all thoughts and got fluidly to his feet. He fully intended to slip out of her apartment and pretend as if he had never been there, but at that exact moment, Stephanie groaned and stretched, nearly catapulting herself into the air with the force of her movement. However, before she could roll off of the mattress and onto the floor, Ranger flashed forward and snagged her around the waist, tossing her back onto the bed.

"Hunh, Ranger?" she moaned, raking her hair out of her face and gazing blearily at him. A flicker of joy, conflict and relief flared in her eyes, and when she patted the space next to her, he couldn't refuse her. Saying nothing, he slid into the covers next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. He felt her hot breath puff against his shoulder as she sighed, relaxing into him. Hardly noticing his actions, he began tracing patterns on her back with his fingers, hoping to lull her back into slumber. She was going to need it if they were going to survive their trip to Atlantic City.

But she was too tense. Instead of falling back into sleep, she was becoming more alert. Stilling the motion of his fingers, he whispered into her hair.

"What's wrong."

"Nothing."

Ranger waited quietly, pushing his fingertips into her back slightly to goad her into speech.

"Fine," she huffed half-heartedly. "Joe and I…" He heard her sharp intake of breath and felt her press her face into his shoulder, obviously trying to keep her emotions in check. "He's not happy about my going to Atlantic City with you," she finally managed to mumble.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into her ear, stroking her hair comfortingly. He was sorry that she was upset, but he couldn't ignore the rush of triumph that overcame him when he deduced that Morelli had broken up with her again, possibly for good.

_Mine._

"I can help make it better," he growled, his lips brushing against her ear. He felt her shiver at his touch.

"Mmm," was all she was able to say before he was kissing her, pushing her lips open with his own. When their tongues twined together, Ranger felt the first tear leak from her closed eyes and he gentled the movement of his lips until he had stopped kissing her altogether.

"Get some rest," he instructed, kissing her forehead and starting to pull away.

"No, don't leave!" implored Stephanie in a surprisingly desperate voice and before he could question his actions, he settled back against her and closed his eyes, deciding he might as well catch some sleep as well. Anyway, it was worth it if it meant remaining near her, even if it would result in confusion and frustration later. He would deal with that when it came. For now, he would enjoy having the woman he loved in his arms knowing that she was all his for the time being.

...

Thanks for readingg! I'd love to hear your opinion on the chapter (:


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